#### Not so long ago i decided to dedicate myself to becoming a [[watching the master|craftsman]] in the art of communication, namely writing.  The somewhat romanticized notion has unexpectedly not materialized over night. Shocker! ### Writing topics Instead, it’s been an interesting journey of learning, primarily what my flow is, where to find sick images to pair with my writing, which medium(s) to publish on (get it?), and how to actually practice. You’d think just writing more would be practicing, and maybe it is? But a basketball pro practices free throws, works on dribbling, studies film, etc. What’s the equivalent for a wordsmith? In addition, figuring out what to write about is another challenge. I personally write about whatever is on my mind at the time. I’m constantly reading and learning and meeting incredible people as a function of how I live my life, so there’s not a shortage of topics, which can be an issue for some. The other side of the spectrum is having so many topics to write about that you get lost in the ocean of other writers who specialize and focus. Yet humans are multi-faceted and I don’t like being bound to one area. It’s a great conundrum, at least it has been for me.  ### The 7 core disciplines The way I’ve tried to solve the issue is by sticking to my underlying thesis of the [[7 Core Disciplines|7 core disciplines]]. The theory goes…everything in our lives falls within one or more of the 7 core disciplines: spiritual, intellectual, physical, financial, industrial, relational, and emotional. By deciding what is important to us within each of the core 7 and then making at least a little bit of progress daily, we can take advantage of the power of compounding and give ourselves the best chance of getting where we want to go. As a sandbox to play in however, that leaves everything in and nothing out. Again making the available topics to write about unbelievably broad and infinite, also creating a seemingly unique problem of not being able to niche down and speak to a specific audience in order to gain recognition. ### Known for something The greats of our time and before are or were great because they were known for something. Bill Gates is known for Microsoft. Warren Buffet is known for investing. Etc. When the entirety of life itself falls into the 7 core disciplines, the message I believe is one of the most important in the entire world and one I feel compelled to champion, how in the F am I supposed to narrow down to become relevant enough to resonate? A lot of writers probably feel the same way I do, which is why you’re reading these words now.  ### Mediums & channels The next challenge to tackle is one of where to actually publish the words we writers so carefully smith. Do we create our own website? Do we use a platform like Medium or Substack? Do we guest blog on the sites of others? Do we write books? Do we first write articles and then combine them into books? And then, do we try to create content in other forms, like video or audio, to support the writing? Well then perhaps we’re splitting our attention too much and not focusing on the main thing. There is probably no single right answer, but what’s most right for the individual. Lately I’ve been struggling with liking the quality of my videos. I was writing a piece, then doing a video riffing on it, linking between the two and publishing them both on every platform imaginable. Now I’m second guessing the video and have a desire to cut that out entirely and just write more. But maybe I’m allowing the lack of immediate results to bias my thinking. Perhaps I keep the videos separate and unique, like reviewing software or selling things with affiliate links or something else experimental. Who knows the right answer?  ### Finding your voice & monetizing Eventually, the dream of every writer probably includes some form of getting paid handsomely for your craft. This can also take 1 million and 1 forms. Do you ask people to subscribe to your paid newsletter (more work), put ads on your existing work, do a support the author type of thing, sell your book, use affiliate links, do speaking engagements and keep the writing free, make a business, freelance on the side (again more work) or get creative and somehow find another way to make money? I don’t have the answer, just discussing the questions here. On top of the monetization puzzle, a writer at some point will want others to read what they have written. At least I definitely do. In order to do that, it probably means finding your voice and sticking to it. We know what Louis Armstrong sounds like. His singing voice is distinct. Ain’t nobody confusing him with anybody else. We writers have a similar bar to raise our literary voices to. We must be distinct amongst the millions of others. Luckily I haven’t found fellow writers to be competitive. We seem to be a supportive crowd who will actually recommend others who do good work. Yet we still need to find our own voices, and that can be difficult. ### Shifting the narrative But still, at the end of the day, the fun part of the dream is chasing it and the practice which we do daily to get to where we want to go. I wouldn’t want to just be handed everything in life (maybe a trust fund, but it’s too late for that) because it is in the repeated acts of doing the work that we become the people we want to be. The get rich quick schemers probably won’t know what to do with the cash once they get it. The one hit wonders fade into obscurity and are known as flukes. The real geniuses and people who move society forward are those who keep getting up day afterday and push it forward. That’s the kind of person I want to be.